Loose-leaf binder



Aug. 23,1927. 1,640,087

J. l.. MCM|LLAN LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed DeC. 9. 1925 Patented Aug. 23, 1927.

PATENT d OFFICE.

JOHN'y L.- MGMILLAN, 0F SYRAC'USE, NEW YORK.

LOOSE-LEAF BINDER-.

Application led' December 9, 1925. SerialNo. 74,352.l

This invention pertains` to loose leaff binders of the type in which the leaves or sheets, bound are carried upon links or cross bars which bridge the binder back and arejoints connecting the boards with the back` member.

The invention consists 1nnovel means for locking and releasing thepintle bars or slides4 to prevent or permit, as desired, insertion or removal. of a sheet or sheets and in a. novel construction ot the housing for said slides.

One. of several embodiments of the invention is illustrated-in theY accompanying drawings. in which:

Figure lis a perspective View of the lcompleteibiuder with kleaves held. therein;

Fig. 2, a partly sectional view of the lock-` ing mechanism on'a much. larger-scale;

Fig. 3. a perspective view of one end. of the housing or casing ot one ofthe pintlebearing slides, showing. the cylindrical portions which receive the pintles. and they lock shell or body, and other details of the hous-L ing; j

Fig. 4, a. perspective view of. one of the leaf-carrying links; f

Fig. 5, a fragmentary perspective view of one of the pintle slides, showing one pintle, the lock shell or body, its radial guiding rib or Win fr. and the rotatable lockL cylinder, fitting closely within the shell and permanently connected with the pintle slide by a` swivel joint, as better shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6, a perspective view showing one form ot'. permanent hin-ge connection between the back member andthe cover boards.

The binder shown comprises the usual curved back or member 1 and two coverboards 9. and 3 hinged to or flexibly connected therewithl in any usual or known way.`

F-irmlyl secured to. and preferably vbuiltf into either or each of the cover boards, preferably both. is. a metallic casing or housing 4 formed ot a. sheet metal blank bent or folded longitudinally near its midwidth. to produce a cylindrical'guideway 1J-for pintles 5.0i a bar or slidearula rectangularguideV way 7 fory the body of. said pintleVv bar orslide 6, an-d for. a radialrib 8 oi the lock.

shell or casing 9.l

One wallet the guideway7 isi-conveniently tormedas shown in Fig. 3, by bendingthe.

metal sheet or blank at a right angle, aud this wall, together With two further right angle bends of the blank, produce an inwardly projecting U-shaped rib l0, the intermediate Wall of Whichk makes contactl with the other half offthe blank. This ribv or corrugation 10 acts as a spacing member for the parallel halves of the folded blank, casing or housing 4, and greatly stiffens and strengthens the same against bending or buckling transversely.

Beyond the rib,the parallel free plates of the housing 4, separatedy and held properly spaced apart by rib 10, afford a seating between4 them tor the inner edge of a base 3a of binders board or like foundation or body of the cover board. This is firmly secure-d in place by rivets, spurs, inturned edges of thev housing, or in any other known and convenient way, preferably effected. be- Jr'ore the leather, canvas or other covering material 3b is applied to the cover boards or to the back member. Thecovering material 3b is usually turned' inward upon the board 3a,gmitered at the outer corners thereof, and. covered by a facing sheet 3 of paper, whichv extends over practically the entire inner rsurface of board 3a, as seen in Fig. 6. j

As shownr in the drawing, one end of the cylindrical folded edge of the housing 4 is enlarged to form an outer'or enclosing shell 11', ito receive the lock shell or casing 9,'

which` isY of such diameter as to produce a close but slidingv and turning tit therein. This. outer shell is provided with a longitudinal slot or opening 12, terminating` at its inner endl in a lateral extension 13, as seen in Fig. 3. The purpose of this opening is to receive. a study or in 14, carried by and projecting radially Bom the rotatable cylinder 15 of the lock, which is of the well known Corbin or Yale type, having radially movable stems or tumblers 16 registering with -in Fig. 2. When the key thus sets the stems or tumblers no. one offthem crosses theline or extends from cylinder into casing or from casing into cylinder, hence the cylinder is made free'to rotate through turning of the key. As soon as the cylinder begins to turn each set of tumblers is prevented from moving longitudinally, and the inner ends of the stems or tumblers 16 resting` in l'iotches or depressions in the edge of the key preclude its Withdrawal until the lock cylinder is returned to locking position. Vvlhen so returned the key may be Withdrawn. forcing all the tumblers radially outward and Jthereby compressing the springs 18.y which, on Withdrawal of the key, expand, moving the lulnblers inivard` and causing` the outer tumblers 17 to stand across the meeting` line of cylinder and shell, thereby prccluding any rotation of the cylinder and consequently any unlocking of the lock.

Then the lock is carried to its normal position Withinits enclosing shell 11, the pintle slide 6 is moved to position to pass its pintles 5 through the eyes or perforations 19 of links 20, the perforated ends of which enter through openings 21 formed in the tubular inner edge 4' of each housing 4 to a point ivhcre their eyes or perforations are in alinement with the pintles. The pintles are advisably pointed at their free ends to facilitate the entrance into the eyes, and they areA advisably of' a length slightly greater than the Width of the openings 21. so that they may bridge the openings and extend slightly beyond them. so that their forward ends may get a bearing` beneath or within the tubular wall of the housing.

Y As seen in Fig. 1, the pintle slide 6 is provided With a serrated or milled button or thumb piece 227 lying outside the housing 4t but having a connecting stem passing through an elongated Opening' 23 in the housing, by means of which button the slide may be moved longitudinally to cause the pintles to engage or release the links 20, as desired, the lock being first unlocked to pei'- init such movement.

lVhen the lock and slide are in their nor-- mal locking position, the stud or pin 14 extending through a transverse or circumferential slot 24 in its shell, stands in the lateral extension 13 of opening 12 of the outer shell or casing 11, in which position it securely holds the lock and the connected pintleslide against longitudinal movement, thus preventing Withdrawal of the pintles from the links 20, which Withdrawal is a condition precedent to release of a link, and consequently to insertion or removal 0f a sheet into or from the binder.V y Y Slot or opening 12 is of a length just sutlicient to permit the requisite travel of theV pintle slide to effect passage of the pintles through the eyes of the links 'to and from link retaining position.

as described and shown it is necessary merely to insert the key into the keyivay of cylinder 15, turn the key and cylinder a distance sulficient to move .stud 14 out of lateral extension 13 and into alinement with the main slot or opening l2, and by pulling rearwardly upon the key or pressing button or thumb piece 22 in pintle withdrawing direction. to move the lock and slide outward and thereby Withdraw the pintles from and thus release the links 13 at one end. .Vhen the A.necessary insertion, removal, or transposition; .is completed the slide and lock are pressed or moved back to normal position and .locked by turning the key in a direction l opposite to that in which it was turned to el'lect unlocking. The opposite ends of the links may be similarly secured, or they may be hinged in any Way to the proximate cover board. y In practice I find it preferable to provide like attachingand locking means for both ends of the links. y

lVhile I prefer a lock of the Corbin or Yale type because of its compact-ness and security, any other type of lock that is suitable may obviously be employed.

By permanently connecting the lock and the pintle slide all danger of lor-*fs of the loci; is avoided, the stud 14- and slot 12 precluding complete' withdrawal of the lock. and consequently, any removal of the pintle slide..

For brevity, and particularly to shorten the claims. a binder such as above described may be designated as a loose leaf binder of the link and pintle type.

It is also to be understood that thoughthc words slide and vhousing7 are used in the claims. these parts may be duplicated in practice andl preferably will be, and the claims are to be read with this understanding.

What is claimed is:

1. Ina loose leaf binder of the. link and pintle type. a housing carried by the binder: a pintle slide longitudinally movable Within' the housing; and a lock carried by the slide and serving when locked, to hold the slide against longitudinal movement.

2. In a loose leaf binder of the link vand pintle type; a housing carried by the bin der: a pintle slide longitudinally movable within the housing; and a lock carried by the slide and having a rotatable member provided with a stud adapted to he carried into and out of a retaining seat in the housing by rotation of said member in opposite directions. y

3. In a loose leaf binder of the link andl pintle type.y a housing carried by the binder and provided'with a longitudinal slot having a lateral extension; a pintle slide longitudinally movable Within the housing: and a lock having a swivel connection with the With the parts constructed and arranged slide and Provided With a rotatable tumbler Sil las:

barrel having a stud to enter andtraverse the slot, and to enter the lateral extension of the slot to prevent longitudinal movement of the slide.

4. In a loose leaf binder of the link and pintle type, a housing carried by the binder and provided with a longitudinal slot having a lateral extension: a pintle slide longitudinally movable within the housing; a lock having a swivel connection with the slide and provided with a rotatable tumbler barrel having a stud to enter and traverse the slot and to enter its lateral extension to prevent longitudinal movement of the slide:

and key-controllable tumblers carried by they tumbler barrel and the lock shell and serving, when the key is withdrawn, to prevent rotation of the tumbler barrel.

5.v A loose leaf binder, comprising a cover; ahousing carried by the cover; sheet-carrying links having perforate ends extending into said housing; a pintle-carrying slide within the housing: and a lock having a swivel connection with the slide and adapted to make locking engagement with the housing, the lock and slide being capable of longitudinal movement` to carry the pintles of the slide into and out of the eyes of the sheet-carrying links.

6. A loose leaf binder, comprising a cover; a housingr carried by the cover and provided with a slot having a lateral extension; sheetcarrying links having perforate ends extending into said housing; a pintle-carrying slide within the housing; a lock having a swivel connection with the slide, the look and slide being capable of longitudinal movement to carry the pintles of the slide into and out of the eyes of the sheet-carrying links; and a rotatable member forming a part ofthe lock and provided with a stud to enter and traverse the slot in the housing and to enter and withdraw from the lateral extension of the slot, to prevent or to permit longitudinal movement of the lock and slide.

7. In a loose leaf binderof the character described, al housing formed of a sheety metal blank bent or folded near its midwidth into tubular or cylindrical form, said tubular portion being enlarged at one end to receive a. lock barrel, the portions of the blank at either side of such tubular fold being brought parallel with each other and spaced apart ai distance sufficient to receive between them a radial extension of said lock barrel and one edge of a cover-board.

8. In a loose leaf ybinder of the character described, a housing formed of a sheet metal blank bent or folded near its midwidth into tubular lor cylindrical form, the portions of the blank at either side of such tubular fold being brought parallel with each other and spaced apart a distance sufficient to receive between them a cover-board and a radial portion of a lock barrel, one leaf of the folded blank being provided with a longitudinal-rib or corrugation projecting toward the opposite leaf of the blank, serving as a stiffening member to prevent buckling of the blank, and acting as a spacing member to maintain the two leaves of the blank at proper distance apart.

9. In a loose leaf binder of the character described, a sheet metal housing folded at or near its midwidth into tubular or cylindrical form, the portions of the blank at either side of such tubular fold being brought parallelwith each other and spaced apart a distance sufiicient to receive between them a cover-board and a radial portion of the lock barrel; and a lock having a barrel adapted to fit snugly within one end of the tubular fold of thev housing, and having a radial portion to extend between the parallel leaves of the housing.

10. In a loose leaf binder of the character described, a housing formed of a sheet metal blank bent or folded near its midwidth into tubular or cylindrical form, the portions of the blank at either side of such tubular fold being brought into parallel planes and spaced apart a distance suiicient to receive between them a portion of a lock casing, said tubular portion of the housing having a longitudinal slot with a' lateral extension; a lock having a shell of cylindrical form to fit snugly within the tubular portion of the housing and provided with a radial extension to lit between the leaves of the housing. said lock provided with a rotatable barrel having a radial extension projecting through its shell or casing and extending into the slot in the housing.

In testimony'whereof I have signed lny name to this specification.

JOHN L. MCMILLAN. 

